Ditto everything you said, MB.
The whole thing is… weird.
For those of you hoping this is a one-time case of a horse sitter not showing up…did you read the whole article? She has been under investigation for over a year now:
According to Perry, Wednesday’s seizure is the result of an investigation that began a year ago when the state received complaints that Ahern was not providing shelter for her horses, even in winter.
“There is a pending court action for her for cruelty to animals, but that has not been to trial yet,” Perry said Tuesday.
I’m in New Hampshire, not Maine, but in New Hampshire it is state law that horses must have access to a 3-sided shelter during the winter months.
And I can also say…horses are not seized lightly in these parts. It takes A LOT for horses to be seized. More than a missing water tub and a disgruntled neighbor.
I don’t know anyone involved in the situation, just to clarify, but it is clear that this is not a situation that just arose with the trip to WEG.
I have always found PintoPiaffe’s posts to be honest and helpful. The horses in the photos hardly look starved.
I hope all of this gets resolved quickly and easily.
Welllll, as a kid we had a cat feeder that could hold a 20# bag of cat food and our cats used a 10 gallon auto-waterer, we easily could have left the barn cats for 2-3 weeks and they never would have noticed.
These days, we have a farm sitter (neighbor) that checks everything every day, but I still usually leave out enough cat food and water to last however long we’re going to be gone. Plus, if her cats are as good of hunters as ours? A 20# bag of cat food could last her 6 months.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;5146867]
Why wouldn’t they just give them water since they looked to be in otherwise good condition until they can locate the owner and figure out what happened? Seems like that would be a much better use of resources.[/QUOTE]
And in at least one recent and fairly high profile large horse neglect case in the state of Maine it took months for the state to seize any horses when there were far worse conditions and the horses were by in large in terrible condition. Very skinny and the owners were blatantly defiant towards state officials. Thus my comment about enforcement being unpredictable and inconsistent. Its very frustrating.
[QUOTE=WarHorse;5146794]
You got it.[/QUOTE]
Thank you and done.
NJR
I don’t know PP other than from this BB and have no dog in this fight but this whole deal sounds fishy to me. The horses in the photos are not “starved” and being dirty or even in a muddy pen isn’t abuse. It really sounds to me like some “disgruntled” folk set her up. Any one of us have had horses in dirty pens or stalls after rain or snow storms. From her posts here it sounded like she had made reliable arrangements to have her animals taken care of.
If that is the case I hope she gets her animals back and they aren’t injured. Hopefully she can prove this was an illegal seizure. She saved those cats to start with, I hate the thought that they’ve been taken from their home and might be PTS, all in the name of “saving” them!
To be away from home and have something like this happen is just unbelievable.
[QUOTE=ddashaq;5146895]
I am hopeful that there is a good explanation for all of this. I have seen Animal Control go after innocent people enough times to not believe a THING that they claim. I have also seen neighbors rally together to drive away horse owners who had been there long before the city folks moved in because they did not like the smell or fencing or what have you. I have no doubt that this could be the case here.
ETA: I was posting at the same time as MB. Agree with most of her post. Very, very weird. I am curious about the two cats they found-- I thought she had a whole Itty Bitty cat herd?[/QUOTE]
THIS. My parents home is in a subdivision built when a huge Standardbred farm sold off a parcel and it was developed. You guessed it…the horse people were eventually run out by the city people who complained about the dust, manure, noise etc.
I have posted on the other threads and I’ll post on this one. I know Jaime personally. I sold her a filly and it’s one on the video. She looks fine to me.
Jaime is still at WEG. Mao, who also posts here and is a friend of mine has horses at WEG and has been there daily as well. Mao and I spoke a short while ago. She’s trying to get word back to her that things are not good at home. I’m sure her farmsitter fell through or something. Hopefully she can get home and get this resolved somehow.
I also recall that she was having trouble with the filly being an escape artist and had been cited for loose livestock. She posted on COTH about that problem as well as emailed me to ask my opinion. So if there is a prior record of violations or something, that is probably what it is.
I just hate that this happened to her. NO her place is not fancy but I suspect many folks on here would be appalled to have someone show up and take pics of your own house/farm unannounced and put them on TV. My horses stand in mud also especially after the storm we just had here. Rain happens.
Anyway, I just wanted to encourage folks to withhold judgment until you know the facts. We are trying to get a hold of Jaime/PP now and hopefully she can get in contact with the authorities in Maine and get this straightened out.
PP has never been anything other than kind, helpful, knowledgeable, and caring in her posts here. I have no reason in the world to even suspect that the allegations are true.
Like others, the interview with the neighbor creeped me out. She was practically jumping up and down and giggling with happiness at getting PP into trouble. To Vanessa Davenport, you are a pathetic, vile, scum-sucking monster. Please go jump of a cliff. Thanks!
WOW! If it’s a set up that’s some vindictive behavior. :mad:
Count me in on those who are astonished to see animal control do anything in a timely manner. I routinely drive past a mare who has a foal at her side and one in the belly for the last three years and she is a body score of two at best. No hay in a dry lot. Everyone I know has called ac repeatedly with no change. Owner is a well respected horse person who actually hosts public events with this mare in plain sight…
How in hell do you get AC to do anything so fast? Something odd is up.
What a coward you are to say such things under an alter.
Hmmm if the one posting is actually someone who has been repeatedly BANNED from CotH, does that still make it an “Alter”? Not sure of the exact definition…
A coward. Yup, that fits.
NJR
I’ve tried to get horses seized before…and found the situation incredibly frustrating. It involves moving heaven & earth, and again, it is not an act that is done lightly.
Northern NH & Maine…it’s pretty rugged country…live free or die and all that.
I am assuming the previous fine and the pending abuse trial probably ushered the seizure process along a bit faster than usual in this instance.
If this is simply a case of the farm sitter failing to show up, I feel very sad for PP. Her entire town, co-workers, friends, students/trainer, and COTH community have heard the media’s (or neighbor’s) version of what happened. She has had no voice and will never be able to erase the thoughts people now have in their head about her. She has become a pariah on COTH, a place that probably brought her comfort and friendship.
I will suspend judgment. I hope the situation is not as the neighbor/media portrayed it and that, if that is the case, those of you that filleted her here on COTH will publicly apologize.
You’re likely right, Lisa.
Also I believe that livestock not having access to water is the “deal breaker” by which the humane society HAS to act. Therefore, if for some reason PP’s plans for a sitter came apart and her horses were without water, the HS would HAVE to take them.
Heck, if they were mine I’d be glad someone noticed that they were without water, although having them taken away is a pretty tough result.
When I see the horses in dire straits around here that DON’T get taken away, it really makes me wonder sometimes…
NJR
[QUOTE=ddashaq;5146895]
I have also seen neighbors rally together to drive away horse owners who had been there long before the city folks moved in because they did not like the smell or fencing or what have you. I have no doubt that this could be the case here.[/QUOTE] Would you want to live next to that dump? What do you think that does to your home value should you decide to sell? There are ordinances in nice townships where you must maintain your property. Smell, noise, accident hazards, etc. are cause for complaints. In my township, PP’s place would probably be cited with a dozen infractions.
The place looks like a dump. It makes mine look like the ritz. The horses look unthrifty and one is def. underweight but they don’t look STARVING. Just in need of worming maybe and more or better food. And a major clean up. That didn’t happen in 2 weeks. And winter is looming. the place doesn’t look big enough to keep horses out without shelter from either a shed or heavy trees.
I hope this is all the result of a flakey sitter but that does not excuse the other problems. If someone can’t afford to keep up the horses or property maybe they need to cut down on the horses and for Heaven’s sake don’t breed any more. Whatever they are.
I am so thankful I’ve been able to have good sitters. The best thing is to have TWO sitters on different shifts and hopefully if one flakes out then the other will notice. That is expensive of course.
I work at a lot of places as a trimmer…I have seen plenty that are no nicer looking than PP’s but the horses are cared for and I have no beef with how anyone chooses to live as long as the animals are taken care of. Seriously there were a few times this summer that our grass went unmowed also and folks could have cited us on some stupid city ordinance.
Seriously…she’s in backwoods Maine…not New Jersey. I would expect in a densely populated area like NJ you’d have tons of ordinances for that reason. It’s comparing apples to oranges.
I think this is a different news account - if link will work:
http://www.wabi.tv/news/14726/horses-abused-neglected-in-denham
All the reporting has been juvenile - in all aspects. The whole thing including neighbors just stinks.
I don’t for a minute believe that PP left her horses to fend for themselves for two weeks. And she was excited about going to WEG - and have this happen.
I hope someone is there to meet her at the airport. She will need help and support.
